While they ate, he talked about the terrain they would face that day, and she listened closely.“I will do my best to keep up!”she told him with a smile.
“I’ll try not to go too quickly.I’m ready to be home.You have to remember that I’ve already done this for a long while.”
“I understand.It seems strange that I’ve been gone from Beckham for two weeks, but I also feel like I just left.Time feels off.”
“Part of that is when the sun rises and sets here.It’s June, so we’re having sun almost twenty-four hours per day.But winter will have the nights just as long.”
“So only a few hours of light in the winter?”she asked.“I read that, but I wasn’t sure it could be true.”
“It’s very true.And an adjustment for most people.”
Belle nodded.“I’m sure it will be a major adjustment for me.”
“It was for me as well.I had to start setting an alarm clock, which I’d never done before.I couldn’t tell when it was day or night.It’s confusing at times, but you get used to it, and it becomes like any other day.”
“I hope you’re right!”Belle said, feeling a bit skeptical.She couldn’t imagine waking up in the middle of the night and seeing it was light out.
“Trust me,” Everett said with a smile.
“I’ll do my best!”
After breakfast, she washed the dishes and they started their day, walking along the path that would take them to Yeti.
By lunchtime, she desperately needed a break.Her calves were burning.She was used to being on her feet all day, but on even terrain.Where they were going was anything but even.
She reheated the beans he’d made the night before for their lunch, and she put more beans on to soak for supper.She found some salt pork and knew she wanted to add that as well when the time came.There weren’t a lot of choices for meals, and he promised he would fish and hunt to supplement what he’d brought.
After lunch, they walked again.It seemed to take everything she had in her to keep going, but she knew that it would be worth it once they’d reached their destination.As they walked, she peppered him with questions, some silly, and some important.
“What’s your favorite color?”she asked.
“Blue.Yours?”
“Purple.”She pursed her lips, thinking.“Have you ever been in love?”
He shook his head.“I never took time for love, which is why I sent for a mail-order bride.Have you been in love?”
“Oh, yes.When I was six.There was a boy who went to my school who chased me around the schoolyard, and I let him catch me.We promised each other we’d get married one day.”
“What happened?Shouldn’t you be married now?”
“Unfortunately for me, Marybeth moved into our town the following year.Her blue eyes turned his head, and I was left alone, pining for a love that would never be.”
He shook his head.“I’m so sorry.Are you all right now?”
“The heartache lingered for years, but I seem to have moved on...”She grinned at him.“Tell me about your parents?”
“I grew up in Dakota Territory, but I was desperate for adventure, so as soon as I was old enough, I took a train to Seattle and became a lumberjack there.My friend who is watching the business for me went with me.And when we started to hear stories of the vast wilderness of Alaska, we felt the need to come here.”
“Well, that tells me about why you’re here, but not about your parents.Tell me about your parents.”
“My mother was a schoolteacher, and unlike most, she continued teaching after she got married.My father was the reverend of our church.They’re good people.Just not as keen on adventure as I am.”
“Do you write them?”she asked.
“Yes, I write them at least once a week and receive a letter just as often.I haven’t told them I sent for a mail-order bride because my mother would have insisted I go home and court a girl properly.”
“Would that have been so terrible?”she asked.
He chuckled.“Not terrible.Just time consuming.”
“I can understand that.Now you have to court me after we’re married.”
He took her hand in his.“How am I doing so far?”
“I’ll let you know...”
